A Journey to Identity, Faith, and Purpose in God

Welcome to Graceful Awakening!

For my first column, I would like to introduce myself as well as what I set out to accomplish in this column. My name is Michele Gunn. I am first and foremost, a child of God.  I am Catholic so you may see that as a tone in my writings.

As a Christian, I believe in the unique value of every human being. God has equipped me with tools to help people find, claim and utilize their innate talents!  You see, God created each and every one of us for a purpose. A distinct and special purpose. In this column, I aim to help you see God in you and in everyone else.

I have been on a journey of marriage for over 34 years.

My husband and I have three adult children and three (currently) grandchildren. We have had our share of challenges and joys throughout our marriage and no doubt, there will be more. I met my husband while I was in college and we married before I graduated with my BBA with a concentration in Marketing from the University of Michigan-Flint.

As a young married woman who had not yet started a career and had the desire for a family, many challenges would soon present themselves. How would I balance marriage, family and career? Should I try? What needs to give? Oh, also, I really didn’t even have my own identity. Who was I? What did I really want out of life? I was not even wondering how God fit into my life.

I would grow with faith into the person God created me to be.

During the 34 years of marriage (and still going), I would grow into the person I am while discovering who I am, who I was created to be and embrace God as my Creator, Jesus as my Savior and the Holy Spirit as my Guide. I often return to Matthew 28:18-20 ‘Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”’ (NAB) It was while I was working in a church that I realized my call to evangelization was just marketing the best product ever, JESUS!

Still, the journey was long.

I was on a journey to find my identity, faith, and purpose in God.

In reality, I know I am still on the journey to finding and living my purpose as God intended. I have fallen away, even ignored God. I always find my way back. Sometimes I am even pulled back! 

My faith journey is leading to my purpose.

I married a Baptist. Neither one of us was truly practicing our faith, although we were both believers in Jesus. We had kids and that is when our real faith discussions started happening. I will be sharing more about that journey in future columns.

When all of my kids were in school, I took a job at the local Catholic church for a little extra money. Shout out to Immaculate Conception Church in Lapeer, Michigan! This is where we found our church family. Here is where we felt at home. We truly got involved. My identity and relationship with God really started to grow.

I had a wonderful faith-filled mentor who was also like a second mom to me. We grew relationships at that church. We grew a family like none other. It was founded in the love of Jesus. This, too, will be a story for another day.

I grew up in Michigan. In 2007, my husband, our kids and I moved to Texas. That was the beginning of what I like to think of as the second part of my life. Life here is very different. We had new challenges. We had to try to find a new church home. Honestly, we have not yet found one that measures up to the church family in Michigan. There was also the question of my job. My kids were older, so I could possibly move into a career that I loved! Oh! I also had a new place to apply what I learned about evangelization! What would that look like?

Who am I?

Remember in the beginning of this introduction, I didn’t really have my own identity? Well, the search was on! I believe that finding who we are is a lifelong journey. God writes our story every day. It is not finished until the end.

Welcome to Graceful Awakening, where together we will find our identity in God, our strength in Jesus and wisdom in the Holy Spirit as we journey together in finding identity, faith, and purpose in God.